A note for New Albany short-term rental owners, from two people who ran one here
We ran our own short-term rental in New Albany. We hosted our first guest there, and that home is where Hearth and Haven Hosting started. Joseph has lived in the Clarksville, Jeffersonville, New Albany area for 30 years. He was a cardiac care nurse for nearly a decade.
Today we co-manage two homes in Crystal River on Florida’s Gulf Coast for an owner. We spent time focused on the Emerald Coast of Florida, and now we are focusing on our home state again. We are rated 4.95 stars across hundreds of reviews.
How we run homes today
We monitor pricing every day. We review nightly rates once a week, and more often when a special event is coming up. We track event dates and price far-out dates ahead of time.
We send event specific welcome messages with details on the house, how to get in, and how to get to the venue. We update listings every quarter. We never move a confirmed guest to take a higher-paying booking. A confirmed stay is a promise.
We have systems built to keep your home clean and maintained as if it were our own. Maintenance is handled with local, trusted technicians.
Owners get an owner portal, a monthly owner report, and a monthly ACH deposit. We learn each owner’s goals for the property and build a plan, so the owner can be completely hands off.
Event dates we track for New Albany homes
These are the confirmed event dates for New Albany homes right now.
- Harvest Homecoming 2026 in New Albany: parade Saturday October 3 at 3:00 p.m., booth days downtown October 8 to 11.
- Louder Than Life 2026 in Louisville: September 17 to 20 at the Kentucky Expo Center.
- Bourbon and Beyond 2026 in Louisville: September 24 to 27 at the Kentucky Expo Center.
- Kentucky State Fair 2026 in Louisville: August 20 to 30.
- Kentucky Derby Festival mini-Marathon and Marathon in Louisville: Saturday April 24, 2027.
- Kentucky Oaks Friday April 30, 2027, and the Kentucky Derby Saturday May 1, 2027, in Louisville.
- Louisville Bats 2027 season at Slugger Field: March 30 to September 19, 2027.
Thunder Over Louisville 2026 was Saturday April 18, 2026. The Kentucky Derby Festival posts the next date each winter.
Saturday September 26, 2026, the Saturday of Bourbon and Beyond, sat at 87% occupancy on the books for New Albany short-term rentals as of September 23, 2026. That is bookings on the books, not a forecast. From AirDNA, pulled September 23, 2026.
New Albany city rules
New Albany has no short-term rental ordinance, permit, or registration in its city code.
New Albany does have a rental registration rule in Chapter 159 of the city code. It reads this way: every rental unit without a homestead exemption registers with the city and holds a rental permit. The fee is $5 per unit per year, due January 31. An owner who lives outside Floyd County or a county that borders it names a local agent. The permit expires 30 days after the property sells. The penalty for no permit runs up to $100 per day, and up to $500 for a repeat. Late registration runs up to $100 per day. Unpaid fines become liens on the property. The Rental Registration office is at 812-948-5333.
Two more city rules apply. The noise rule in Chapter 96 has no decibel limit and no set quiet hours. A first fine is $150, a second within 6 months is $300, and a third is $500. The trash rule in Chapter 50 says containers stay on the property and out of the right of way, with a fine of $25 to $100.
New Albany zoning defines a family as related persons or up to 3 unrelated adults plus their children. A bed and breakfast is owner operated with 3 to 5 guest rooms. Whether either definition touches your home depends on your property and your district. The Plan Commission is at 812-948-5327.
State law requires smoke detectors in every rental: one outside each sleeping area and one on each level, including the basement. A problem reported in writing must be repaired within 7 working days.
Every stay under 30 nights carries a 13% tax
The tax on a New Albany stay under 30 nights is 7% Indiana sales tax plus 6% Floyd County innkeeper’s tax, 13% in total. The Floyd County rate has been 6% since December 1, 2019, when it went up from 4%.
Airbnb and Vrbo collect and remit both taxes on every stay booked through them. An owner who books only through those platforms does not have to register with the state for sales tax.
Direct bookings work differently. The operator registers for a Registered Retail Merchant Certificate at $25 per location, files in INTIME, and remits every month. The return is due 30 days after the end of the month if the average monthly tax was $1,000 or less, and 20 days after if it was more. Floyd County innkeeper’s tax on direct bookings is filed with the Indiana Department of Revenue.
Sales tax applies to the nightly rate and to the cleaning fee, pet fee, damage fee, parking fee, and cancellation fee. A stay of 30 or more consecutive nights is exempt from both taxes.
New Albany’s market today
Trailing twelve-month revenue per listing for New Albany short-term rentals came in at $36,100 as of the September 16, 2026 pull, with occupancy at 55% and the nightly rate at $197. The market had 195 active listings. RevPAR for New Albany went up 19.6% from August 2025 to August 2026, while the active listing count went down 13.7% over the same period. From AirDNA, pulled September 16, 2026.
August 2026 revenue per listing for New Albany homes, for the completed month, compared with August 2025:
- 1-bedroom homes came in under August 2025 by 32.5%, from $1,793 to $1,211.
- 2-bedroom homes came in over August 2025 by 0.6%, from $2,206 to $2,219.
- 3-bedroom homes came in under August 2025 by 1.6%, from $2,661 to $2,619.
- 4-bedroom homes came in under August 2025 by 18.7%, from $3,813 to $3,099.
From AirDNA, pulled September 23, 2026.
The 2- and 3-bedroom homes in New Albany came in within 2% of August 2025 in August 2026. The 1- and 4-bedroom homes came in well under.
The bottom line
We ran our own short-term rental in New Albany, and that is where Hearth and Haven Hosting started. New Albany has no short-term rental ordinance. A rental unit without a homestead exemption needs a $5 registration due January 31, and the tax on stays under 30 nights is 13%. Today we monitor pricing every day, track event dates, and build a plan around each owner’s goals.
Have any questions, or want a personal property analysis on a specific property? Call or text Joseph at 812-778-2235, email [email protected], or visit hearthandhavenhosting.com.
Safe travels,
Joseph and Laura
Hoo-Hoo-Hoo-Hoosiers!